Biology

Salamence is a quadruped, draconic Pokémon with a long, tapering tail. It is primarily blue with a gray lower jaw and thickly scaled underside. There are red markings on its throat, the underside of its tail, and stripes on the inner surface of its legs. Additionally, there are raised red ridges above its eyes. Three flat spines protrude from either side of its head, somewhat resembling external gills. It has two pairs of pointed teeth, one in the upper jaw and one in the lower. Each of its short legs has three claws. This Pokémon’s powerful desire to fly triggered a mutation that allowed it to grow large, red wings. As an expression of joy, it flies around and releases blasts of fire. However, when it is angry, it will shred things with its claws in addition to release fire blasts. This Pokémon is found living on rough terrains.

In the manga

In the Pokémon Adventures manga

When Ruby was a child, he battled a Salamence that attacked him and Sapphire while the two were playing outside. After being defeated by Ruby (and having scarred his forehead with its Dragon Claw in the process), the Salamence went on a rampage and destroyed a lab, freeing Rayquaza, which was in captivity at that time, in the process. This resulted in Norman being banned from the Gym Leader test for five years. This encounter changed both Ruby and Sapphire and their views on Pokémon, as well as themselves. In Ruby's case, he felt he was too strong, and in order to keep himself back, he focused on Pokémon Contests. Sapphire, on the other hand, felt weak after the encounter and decided she had to become stronger, and spent much of her time in the wild honing her battle skills.

Years later, in the Emerald chapter, Dome Ace Tucker is shown to be in possession of another Salamence, with which he defeats Sapphire. While Sapphire acknowledges the man's overwhelming skill, she also adds that such a Pokémon is a hard one to fight against with her phobic old experience many years back.

Salamence came about as a result of a strong, long-held dream of growing wings. It is said that this powerful desire triggered a sudden mutation in this Pokémon's cells, causing it to sprout its magnificent wings.